The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-08-11
STORY OF A PET DEER.
The Mother Doe and Her Pretty
Fawn.

1lNcu ln a OlO-
fashioned farmhouse, situated long
distance from the city, in beautiful
part of the country. The vine-clad
hills down which small streams of
water wound. inclosed us in on every
side, and less than mile off the tall
peak of mountain rose up nearly to
the sky.
The farmland which belonged to our
place was not all under cultivation,
and dense shades of forest were close
TO our back door. Game both large
and small frequented these woods,
where they were seldom disturbed by
any human being, but were allowed to
roam about at liberty. Father was
not huntsTnan, and he would never
permit his friends, when visiting him,
TO kill the poor. half-tame creatures
which made the woods near the farm
house their home. The sound of gun,
i think, was never heard within half a
mile of the woods while father owned
the place; and, as result of this, the
wild creatures soon became so tame
and gentle that they approached close
to our house in the dead of winter,
when food was scarce. and seemed to
plead for something to eat with their
soft, hazel eyes.
My brother Jim and l would watch
them from the porch. and try to coax
them closer with soft, gentle words.
Our great ambition was to pat the head
of one of the sleek-looking deer, and
have him for a playmate, just as we
had Towser. the dog. But the deer
were the widest creatures of the forest.
and it was seldom that one of them
approached nearer than three hundred
yards to the house. The rabbits and
squirrels would even run up on the
stOop and under the rose-bushes, and
make themselves so familiar that they
seemed more like pet kittens than wild
creatures. But the deer were very
different.
These creatures are 30 shy that the
very scent of a human being is often
sufficient to make them run away with
fear and seek the deepest recesses in
the forest for a hiding-place. When l
think of it, it seems strange that they
did not show more dread of our pres
ence on the farm. and shun our society
altogether. But attribute it more to
fathers kindness to the dumb creatures
than to any other cause. He would
place food regularly for them near the
edge of the forest, where they could eat
it without coming entirely out of their
natural hiding-place. In the winter
time several of the pretty animals could
be seen near their feeding place, dart
ing about gracefully over the snow, and
making themselves at home as much as
If they were thousands of miles from
any habitation. 1t was sight, Just
before sunset on a clear, cold. wintry
Ilay, to make a sportsman's heart leap
with JOY. A well-directed shot from
the doorway of the house could have
killed any one of the playful creatures
before it had time to get away.
The game in the woods several miles
to the south of us was being slaughtered
every season at an astonishing rate
Huntsmen from the city came out in
parties, accompanied by their dogs,
and secured the woods for weeks at a
time, carrying back with them as tro-
phies the tails of more than a dozen
foxes and squirrels, and probably the
hide Of several deer. The country round
as soon became notorious among the
hunters, and every year the number of
sportsmen increased.
Father, with his sensitive feelings
concerning the wild animals. naturally
felt considerably exasperated at this,
and he placed signs in all prominent
places round his farm, warning all tres
passers off the land under penalty of
the law. So strictly did he enforce the
right which the law gave him that the
guides and trappers in the vicinity
made it their first duty to warn
stranger from the city not to chase the
game further than the edge of the
forest.
The wild animals seemed to take the
hint, too. and they focked into the pro-
fected woods in great numbers. 1t was
the place of refuge for them. and it did
not take them long to understand the
fact. Many were the times when the
hunters had cause to use strong lam
guage against father. as they saw their
game leap over the boundary line which
separated the lower country from his
farm; but wholesome fear of the law
prevented them from pursuing the
game further.
One season the hunters were so nu-
merous in the country that continual
firing in one direction or another seemed
70 be kept up all day. The deer in the
forest heard the noise, as well, and
they became more shy and nervous
than ever before. 1t was with difficulty
that even father could approach within
calling distance of them, and it was
only under cover of the night that they
would venture forth from the forest to
eat the food which he set out for them.
This fact worried him considerably, and
he kept up a ceaseless watch round his
farm to see that none of the hunters
attempted,to hunt in his forest